Policy Watch: Can a Surge Succeed?

Abstract:

"Retired U.S. Army General Jack Keane and American Enterprise Institute scholar Frederic W. Kagan have argued that any ""surge"" of additional American troops to Iraq should be ""large and lasting."" In a Washington Post op-ed piece published on Dec. 27, they provide a thoughtful rationale for why the surge is only likely to be successful if it consists of at least 30,000 more combat troops and lasts at least 18 months. They are undoubtedly right that a smaller surge for a shorter period of time would not succeed. Their argument for a ""large and lasting"" surge, though, is based on an assumption which, if false, would also prevent what they propose from succeeding."